Approaching Normal
by Nikkel
Summary: Many years have passed since Princess Azula was quietly sent away to find the pieces of her mind. Now, a second chance lets her pick up where things left off, but all is not as it seems. Not even close. [Tyzula Week Spring 2017]
1. golden

**Author's Note:** This is actually a story I've tried to write several times. Prepare for feels; I promise that at the end of all of this, there's a happy ending.

* * *

" _I gave up on the past because it's unforgiving. I misplaced my trust, I watched my word begin to rust, I'm a balloon about to bust, I need a place for reliving."_

.

 **Golden**

No matter what time of year or where she is, sunset is Ty Lee's favorite time of day. She likes the color, the warmth, and the beauty of it all. It reminds her how wonderful it is to be alive. She has seen another amazing day come to an end.

But today, as she stands on the ferry with the wind to her back, the sunset hides behind her.

"Passengers, please prepare for landing," the speakerphone crackles. "We will be reaching Hopo Island shortly."

She doesn't know what to expect. She carries a single, closed fire lily. She picked it from the garden on the side of her house this morning. She knows there is a deeper symbolism behind them, but that is not why she is here.

A man next to her clutches a dozen roses close to his heart. An Earth Kingdom couple, probably about her age, hold one another and speak in whispers. A noblewoman with pursed lips and expensive robes checks her nails.

She wonders who they are going to see, and if they will be coming home today.

.

Last week, amidst an insane afternoon lunch rush, the last person Ty Lee expects to walk into the tea shop is the Fire Lord's mother.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Lady Ursa," Ty Lee says with a deep bow. Her coworkers behind her stare with their jaws on the floor. _Ty Lee_ and _nobility_ do not belong in the same sentence.

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Ty Lee. I apologize if this is a little impromptu."

Ty Lee's boss throws together a fresh table at the last minute. He shakes as he pours a round of tea. Ty Lee burns her tongue and pretends the tea isn't bitter.

Ursa babbles. About life in the Fire Nation, about how the village reminds her of Hira'a, how time has slipped by…

And then she mentions _her_ name, and Ty Lee's heart plunges into her gut.

"She could use a change of pace. A change of… scenery. I don't think she'll ever be able to return to the palace. She needs help finding peace."

Ursa admires the sunset.

"I'm not sure," is all Ty Lee can say, over and over. To be honest, Ty Lee had forgotten all about it. Put it all behind her the day she picked up Kyoshi's Fan.

Ursa asks. Ursa begs. Ursa prays. She is waging an uphill battle. Ty Lee wants to run away.

And she has been running for a very, very long time.

.

Ty Lee fidgets in the waiting room. She wipes her palms on her best skirt. Sweat beads down her neck and she has the urge to jump into the artesian fountain at the center of the room, but she sits still. She is not a little girl anymore.

Her legs itch and she walks around the hospital. It doesn't even _feel_ like a hospital. Songbirds flutter through the main atrium and flowers bloom in ornate garden beds. Colorful, abstract paintings decorate pastel walls. Lavender incense wafts alongside small, handout plates of lava cookies. If the hospital went out of business, it could easily become a getaway resort.

After all, there isn't another island around for miles.

"Ms. Ty Lee?" A nurse walks up to her as she stares at a dusty bookshelf. "Dr. Hew Len will see you now."

She isn't sick, but she wants to vomit.

Dr. Hew Len is nice, Ty Lee decides. Handsome. Not as old as she suspected, but she can see the silver in his beard.

"I'm happy you've come, Ty Lee," he says from behind his mahogany desk. "The hospital would like you to know what a great service you're doing by offering our full support. Medicine, equipment, personnel; whatever you need."

She processes his gratitude like a machine. "Thank you, doctor."

"Now, shall we get down to business?" He lays a thick, leather-bound file on his desk. The pages are singed black.

"Actually… I was wondering if I could see her, first."

Color drains from Hew Len's slim cheeks. "Well… May I advise you to look at the briefing instead? If we can start at the beginning…"

"If you want me to go through with this, I need to see her."

Hew Len pauses. Takes off his glasses. "I see. Please, follow me."

He leads her down, down, down a long, long spiraling staircase away from the sun. Ty Lee shivers in the cool air and feels like she is at the bottom of a cave. Hew Len stops at an iron door and turns a hefty key.

"This wing is rather rudimentary," he explains. "But only because our care at this level is… intense."

The corridor is cold. Red crystals jut out from the ceiling and light a path of more iron doors. She wonders if she is in the same building or on the same island. It reminds her of the bowels of a warship; clammy, dim, claustrophobic.

And eerily reminiscent of a certain war prison. Ty Lee rubs the scars on her wrists.

They stop at an iron door at a dead end. Hew Len knocks.

.

The doctor's words float around her like lazy smoke.

 _"Burns orderlies… Poor appetite… Avoids mirrors…"_

He notes these things like they are out of the ordinary. Ty Lee has known them all her life.

She thinks of her visit with Mai. _"_ You don't have to do this, Ty Lee."

"I know," she replied. She glanced out the window at Mai's daughter in the palace courtyard. Her firebending has a peculiar swiftness. "But I do."

"You're going to get burned again."

Again. Like when she got a better score on the math test, like when she could land a perfect backflip, or like when she could pull in any man she desired with a wink of her eye.

"That was when we were kids, Mai. We didn't know any better."

It's not an argument, but Mai makes it seem like it is.

Hew Len clears his throat. "Do you have any questions?"

"No."

He pauses, concerned for her… lack of concern. "Are you sure? In layman's terms, she's… quite far from approaching normal."

"Yes, sir," Ty Lee says now, lifting her head up and looking him in the eye. "I'm fully aware of the consequences."

Hew Len doesn't know it, but Ty Lee had made up her mind the moment they had locked eyes in the dark.

.

Zuko arrives on a private vessel for transport. He wants to have good intentions; Ty Lee knows he is also there for the insurance.

"This means a lot to me," he says, but he is better off chewing on cardboard.

"Of course," Ty Lee replies. He is the Fire Lord. She doesn't have a choice. "I'm honored you would seek me out."

Ty Lee hears a scream inside the hospital. Zuko rushes in, and Ty Lee decides she does not like the Imperial Firebenders.

.

They arrive at her sleepy, seaside village tucked between the mountains at sunset. Their shadows stretch over wheat fields and weave between olive tree orchards.

Ty Lee opens the rusty wooden gate to her house on the hill. A little girl with a long, black braid down her back stands on a stool, pinning bedsheets to an old clothesline. Silver windchimes jingle in the breeze.

Ty Lee turns to the silhouette against the sunset.

"Welcome home, Azula."


	2. touch

.

 **Touch**

.

The first days are hard. The drugs take time to wear off. They are ugly and uncomfortable.

But first, Azula sleeps. Ty Lee sits on a stool with jasmine tea to keep her up at night. She has to keep reminding herself that this is Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation and Master Firebender, and not some stranger. She does not look at all like the composed, flawless woman she had admired in her youth.

She moves a single hair from Azula's closed eyes to behind her ear. She flinches and snarls, but does not wake.

"No, don't… Tell me why… Mother…"

She mutters in her sleep and Ty Lee wonders what she dreams about.

.

"Traitor! _Traitor_!"

"I'm not a traitor! I'm your friend, Azula, your friend!"

The doctor has given her sedatives for these episodes, but Ty Lee does not like them. They dull Azula's aura and numb her into lifeless acquiescence. So, Ty Lee fights her. Her daughter watches them from the doorway.

"This all part of _her_ plan, isn't it? I'll kill her, _I'll kill her_!"

"Nobody's killing anybody, Azula! I won't let you!"

"Get off me! Get off me!"

"You're hallucinating!"

Ty Lee does not like chi-blocking Azula into submission, but she does not have any other restraints. She straddles her on the carpet to keep the house from burning down.

When Azula exhausts herself and returns to being comatose, Ty Lee changes the sheets and retrieves fresh water. Izah sits on Azula's bed and presses a cool washcloth to her feverish forehead.

Zuko and Mai don't want Azula around because they are afraid she will hurt Izumi. Ty Lee is proud that Izah is brave and compassionate.

.

The screams persist for days. Ty Lee has difficulty sleeping. Izah climbs into bed with her, but not because she is scared. She passes her mother tissues until Azula is hoarse.

.

At long last, though, Ty Lee is able to sleep through the night. She smiles into her pillow. Still, she feels Izah climb into bed with her and doesn't mind. Her daughter has been surprisingly strong and understanding with a stranger in the house.

A warm, slender hand with long nails trails down her spine.

She holds her breath; Azula's on her neck. Her hand wanders, caressing her shoulders and thighs. Threading through her hair and flicking her earlobes. Squeezing her hip bones.

Many years ago, Azula would be kissing her. Biting her. Touching her. It stirs feelings in Ty Lee's rising and falling chest like embers in a firepit. Heat returns and she can only take so much.

"Azula."

It's all she can think of to say to make it stop.

It does.

Azula leaves. Ty Lee listens for the click of the bedroom door before falling back asleep.

.

Ty Lee makes breakfast when she sees Azula come out of her room. Izah sits and colors at the kitchen table.

Azula picks up a book and sets it down.

Azula examines a platypus-bear figure and puts it back.

Azula swings open a cupboard door and closes it.

"What's going on, Azula?" Ty Lee asks, approaching her as she grabs a photograph on the shelf. "Oh, that's the day the circus was in town. I _had_ to show Izah what her life could have been like if I had stayed in it."

Azula raises the picture to smash it, and Ty Lee jumps for it before she has the chance. "Hey! We don't destroy stuff when we're mad!"

She feels like she is talking to her daughter when she is going through her terrible twos. Azula even pouts like her.

.

Words come slowly to Azula. Ty Lee knows it isn't because she is dumb (she knows for a fact that Azula is _leagues_ smarter than her), but it concerns her. The hospital drugs have taken their toll on a broken mind.

Azula follows Ty Lee like a silent shadow. It doesn't bother her when she cooks meals, folds laundry, or washes dishes, but every now and then Ty Lee turns around, startled.

Like the day she followed her into the bathroom after her robe dropped.

"Oh, Azula! Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Azula blinks, as if to say _Of course I am_.

She tests the warm, bubbly water with her index finger, peels off the clothes she has been wearing for days, and hijacks the bathtub. She pulls her skinned knees to her chest and waits.

Ty Lee wraps a towel around herself and picks up a sponge. The tub turns brown as she scrubs at the dirt, sweat, and blood engrained into the girl's pale skin.

Azula has more scars than she remembers.

.

They are sitting on the front porch when Izah walks up to Azula.

"Can I brush your hair?"

Azula stares at her. Not a yes, but not a no. She doesn't move as Izah sits behind her with a small comb. She winces every time the child hits a tangle, which is often, and whirls around with a flame in hand. Ty Lee catches her by the wrist.

"You will _not_ touch my daughter."

Azula glares at her in challenge.

"Besides, let's be honest here: Your hair is doomed right now."

Azula drops the flame with a scowl. Ty Lee swishes a pair of scissor together. _Snip, snip, snip_. Out come the knots and a little more, dripping to the floor.

"What do you think?" Ty Lee asks, passing Azula hand mirror. Azula smashes it to pieces.

Of course.

Izah is already sweeping up glass and hair clippings. Regardless of Azula's black eyes, the little girl smiles.

"I think you're pretty."

.

Like all mornings, Ty Lee makes breakfast and Izah colors at the kitchen table. Azula emerges from her bedroom later than them, as usual. Out of the corner of her eye, Ty Lee knows she will be going through her routine of picking up random objects. It surprises her when she doesn't.

Azula takes one of Izah's crayons. Izah watches as she rolls it in her fingers and breaks it in two with a sharp _snap_. She sets it down, picks up another, and breaks it again. Ty Lee wants to reprimand her, but then, she walks up to her.

Azula reaches her hand out, and retracts it, as if stung. She bites her lower lip, chapped, and touches Ty Lee's cheek.

"Real… Or not real?"

"Real."

Ty Lee wants to grab her hand and make her feel everything. But that would be too much, so she holds still as Azula's thumb passes over her lips.

"Real, Azula. I'm here."

Azula says nothing. She sits at the table with her daughter and the broken crayons. Ty Lee slides her a bowl of eggs and rice.

For the first time since she has been home, she eats.

.


	3. lost

.

 **Lost**

.

"Mom! Mom!"

"Hmm... What is it, Izah?"

"Azula's gone!"

Ty Lee bolts awake as thunder rumbles in a swelling storm. The curtains lash with the wind.

"Light the lanterns and stay here."

"But mom—"

"It'll be okay." Ty Lee pulls on her shawl and kisses the top of her daughter's head. "We'll be back soon. I promise."

The midnight sky is dark and angry. The fence gate bangs open and closed in the wind, and Ty Lee sprints down the path. It leads directly into town. The island isn't very big, mostly peasant settlements and farms, and Ty Lee has a faint idea of where Azula is headed.

The signature flashes of blue lightning help, too.

"Azula!" Ty Lee shouts as she stumbles upon her on the dock, unfurling a small schooner's sail. Before she can get another word out, blue fire sails over her shoulder.

Ty Lee ducks and somersaults. She catapults off a fishing barrel, diving for the Princess, the heat of her flames too close for comfort. She misses and lands on the cabin rooftop instead.

"I don't want to fight you!" Ty Lee shouts.

"You should have thought of that _before_ you and Mai decide to betray me!"

Ty Lee dodges another fireball. "Please, Azula, I'm on your side!"

"I have no side! I am alone, and it's all _your_ fault!"

Azula chases her. Ty Lee scrambles up the main mast and all of a sudden she and the former Princess are a balancing act in a storm. Ty Lee teeters on the edge and Azula charges up her lightning.

"Azula, you're not alone..." Ty Lee tries one last time, holding up her open palms. "We're friends... Remember?"

Lightning cracks from Azula's fingertips and Ty Lee jumps like an airbender, flipping out of the way to see Azula collapse. Ty Lee dives, one hand snagging the mooring line, and swings around the schooner to catch Azula midair. They tumble down together in the rain.

Ty Lee isn't sure if it was the psychosis or fever searing through Azula's head that took her out, or something else altogether. She heaves the unconscious Princess up in her arms and carries her home.

It will not be her first, nor her last, relapse.

.

Ty Lee riffles through the paperwork Dr. Hew Len enclosed with Azula's file. Somehow, she hopes it will reveal something she doesn't already know.

"You're not going to find anything in there," Azula remarks, arms crossed and standing in the bedroom doorway. "They took notes on me when I explicitly asked them not to. So, I burned the pages."

This doesn't surprise Ty Lee in the slightest. She picks up a scrap of paper, the edges crisp and singed.

"What about this one?" Ty Lee asks, showing her.

 _Ember Island._

Azula barely glances at it as she reduces it to ashes.

"As if you remember," is all she says, turns, and leaves.

.

Ty Lee remembers. Of course, Ty Lee remembers. It was a night she would never forget.

Moonlight skin along an ebony shore. A gentle sea breeze pushing hands and hearts together. No other audience but the twinkling kings of the past.

The kiss is a kind gesture, a genuine curiosity, an unfettered need. It evolves into something deeper and darker as the summer draws to an end.

Ty Lee picks at her lips. She always thought of it as a not-so-innocent summer romance.

Azula apparently thought more.

.

Blue flames swell in an amber horizon. If there's one thing Azula still has faith in, it is the sun. It pulls at her hands and moves her feet; muscle memory. Firebending _katas_ remain unbroken in the shattered pieces of her mind.

Izah claps from the side lines. "Wow, that was amazing! I've never seen fire like yours, Azula. It's _so_ pretty!"

There's so much about the little girl that reminds Azula of a much younger Ty Lee... At the same time, something about her gold eyes and black hair are even more horribly familiar. She can't quite put her finger on it.

She wipes the sweat off her face and strolls across the lawn. Ty Lee stands smiling on the porch, a glass of ice-cold lemonade waiting for her.

"You're even better than I remember," she says.

Azula pauses. Scrutinizes each word and tries to decipher the smile on her face. After one long, studious minute, she decides on an answer.

"Thanks."

She takes the lemonade and heads inside.

.

At every waking hour, Azula is firebending. She practices before dawn and until dusk. She fights like they are still at war. She pushes herself through the katas as if there is a voice in her head and a fire whip at her back.

Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't. Ty Lee remembers the mysterious burns on the Princess' arms growing up. Azula is a prodigy, and a prodigy so talented would never burn themselves.

She wishes she would have spoken up. Maybe then, all hope wouldn't feel so lost.

.


	4. legend

**Legend**

.

Azula flicks her wrist and adds blue flame to the swelling pyre. She doesn't turn as she hears the screen door clatter.

"Azula!" Ty Lee coughs through the acrid smoke. "What are you doing?"

"Preserving my legacy," Azula replies. She tosses Dr. Hew Len's paperwork into the pyre. "Do you know what would happen if the people of the Fire Nation read these? If they learned how one of their fearless leaders was nothing more than an insane, raving lunatic? It would nullify everything I've ever accomplished. My name would go down as a failure in history."

Ty Lee bites her lip. If she were younger, she would have blurted out something stupid. She wants to tell Azula all about how Zuko has kept her so quietly and discreetly tucked away, that many people in the Fire Nation do not remember they had a Princess; if they do, her name is Izumi. But somehow, that seems worse than Azula's legacy being tarnished.

A truth is easier to conceal than it is to reveal a lie.

So, Ty Lee takes a step closer and offers out a hand. Azula isn't surprised by many things, but this intrigues her. She passes Ty Lee some pages and she hurls them at the fire with such force, embers crack and dance at their toes.

.

Today, it rains. Pours. Monsoon season has arrived in the Fire Nation and forces Azula indoors.

She could bend in the rain. Easily. Lightning even more easily.

But Azula hates the rain and so she sulks inside.

"No firebending inside the house, Azula," Ty Lee not-so-gently reminds her. She hears the scraping of a table across the floor returning to its original spot. "Thank you."

Ty Lee is exhausted. She sets another tin bucket down under a leaky roof and wanders into the den. She sits on the couch next to Azula. She holds a picture frame; the same one she tried to smash.

"Tell me who she is," Azula says, pointing at Izah.

"She's my daughter," Ty Lee replies, wondering if Azula's mind is trying to play tricks on her. But her breathing is slow and her voice steady.

"No." Azula flips the picture over and looks Ty Lee hard in the eye. " _Who_ is she, and why does she look like me?"

"Huh. I never thought that. But come to think of it, she kinda does, doesn't she?"

Azula could have smacked her senseless.

Ty Lee inhales. On a day where the sky is dreary and the rain falls, they have nothing but time to waste.

"Well, it all started at this party..."

.

Parties in the Earth Kingdom are very different from parties in the Fire Nation, Ty Lee decides. In the Fire Nation, there is wild entertainment around every corner; live music, theater and troubadours, competitive sports and games.

In the Earth Kingdom, Ty Lee tries to wrap her head around lounging around in a dimly-lit scene tucked beneath a grocery store in Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring. She sips her moscato and watches as her fellow Kyoshi Warriors lounge on the beaten-up couches in thick clouds of hookah smoke. There's some dancing, but it's more subtle shifting side to side, like awkward teenagers at their first formal. For once, Ty Lee feels herself fading into the background.

And then, she notices him. Staring straight at her on the other side of the room, as if the rest of it doesn't exist. The golden gaze pierces through her chest and awakens a forgotten ache.

Suddenly, he is next to her and passing her a drink. This one is sweet, and much stronger than her last. A few sips brings the roses to her cheeks. He smirks.

Perhaps there is something in the way the Earth Kingdom parties, after all.

Or maybe it is that he knows that she knows that he knows that they are both from the Fire Nation, and it is the shared heat bringing them together.

He presses her to the alley wall, her legs cold in the winter and his breath hot on her neck. Her nails scrape at his chest. She feels a badge and pins underneath the ragged peasant robes. Military.

"Come back to my place," he purrs.

"I don't know," Ty Lee slurs back. "The other girls... They'll wonder where I am."

"It's in the Middle Ring," he adds.

"Oh, then in that case..." She kisses him again. What she would give for a night in the Middle Ring with warm showers, clean robes, and fresh meals. Royalty has spoiled her expensive taste.

Ty Lee doesn't remember much more of that night.

When she wakes up the next morning, she is not at a suave apartment in the Middle Ring, but some hole-in-the-wall motel on the Lower Ring's south side. No note, no breakfast, and nothing but the taste of cotton in her mouth.

Somehow, she is not surprised that the man lied.

.

"And that's all I remember," Ty Lee concludes, palms up. "Turns out the Kyoshi Warriors don't take too kindly to unplanned pregnancies."

Azula is not impressed. "That still doesn't answer my question."

"What do you mean?"

"Why does she look like _me_?"

Ty Lee sighs and doesn't look at her. Azula doesn't like it. "Out with it."

"It's... Well, whoever that guy was, he reminded me of..."

" _Of_?"

"You."

Ty Lee can't tell what Azula's response is. Her face doesn't change as she seems to stare right through her. Ty Lee fumbles for words. "I'm sorry Azula, I—"

Azula kisses her hard. She presses a hand to her chest and forces her down onto the couch cushions.

"Shut up," she commands.

Azula kisses her harder to muffle her moans from her daughter's innocent little ears.

.

They sit side-by-side on the porch steps. Lavender twilight cusps the yard and Izah dances through the wet grass. Yellow fireflies spring up at every step.

"Look, mommy! I got one!" she exclaims, cradling it with both palms for Ty Lee to see.

"Aww, he's so cute! Let's put him the jar," Ty Lee replies.

"Have you ever smashed one?" Azula asks with a sinister grin.

Izah gapes at her in horror. "No, that's mean! Mommy says we don't hurt animals, no matter how big and no matter how small!"

Azula sighs. "You're right, Ty Lee, she's your daughter. Certainly no child of mine. Congratulations."

Izah takes the mason jar with her and skips back into the grass.

Ty Lee giggles. "Do you understand now, though? I mean, I don't have much in life, but this little girl... Well, she's my legacy."

"No," Azula replies, indifferent.

"Oh, come on. Lie for me just this once."

Azula pecks her on the lips. "Always."

.


	5. outlier

.

 **Outlier**

.

Ty Lee doesn't expect Azula to still be in bed when she rolls over the next morning.

"You're still here," she says. Azula lies on her back, her arms behind her head. It's a very pensive, relaxed pose for her. Ty Lee takes it as an invitation to snuggle. "I thought you would be out firebending by now."

"Usually, yes," Azula replies. "But I was watching you sleep instead."

Ty Lee blushes. She's not sure if she's flustered or flattered.

"Does that bother you?"

"No. Nope, I just, uh… Didn't really expect it."

Ty Lee says these words, but it's clear what she really means. Azula decides to turn her gaze to the dusty ceiling instead. "If you're really wondering why, it's because I'm jealous of you."

This seems to take a great deal of effort. It always does.

"What about this time?" Ty Lee asks, because she has lost count of all the times Azula has envied her. Usually for the small, forgettable things, too.

It's then that Azula closes her eyes, and Ty Lee notices the dark circles clinging underneath.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Not really."

Ty Lee sits up. "Well, how about I make you some tea? I think it'll help relax you."

Azula pauses. Considers it. And then, smirks. "I have a better idea."

She pulls the girl back into her lap and kisses her bare collarbone. Ty Lee's hands find their way through Azula's hair, and the next thing she knows, she's back in bed with her.

Tea can wait.

.

Izah bounces off the kitchen chair. "Mommy! Look what the post boy brought!"

She waves an envelope around. Ty Lee takes it, but doesn't open it. Instead, she passes it in surprise to Azula. "It's for you."

There's no mistaking the chicken-scratch handwriting. "It's from my brother... He wants to see me."

"What? He does? When?"

"Next month. His daughter's birthday." She inhales sharply. "Zuko has a daughter?"

"Yeah," Ty Lee replies, nonchalantly pouring them some breakfast tea. "She's a couple of years older than Izah."

Something about all of this bothers her. She sets the note down very gingerly on the table, smoothing it to the edges, as if it were an important legal document and not a casual invitation. She takes her time eliminating the creases.

"I'm behind on my firebending this morning," she declares, and slips out the front door.

Behind her, Ty Lee examines the carefully laid note, as if it contains some sort of hidden message. But all of the words are there, plain to see.

.

Azula does not remember ever getting seasick. But now she lies on her back, sweating and kicking the covers away, clenching her stomach.

When she closes her eyes, she is surrounded by water. Cold, vile sewer water from underneath Sozin's Plaza. The sheets feel like chains around her wrists. She panics and can't breathe.

Ty Lee lays there with her, arms wrapped around her shaking body, despite her violent thrashing.

"It's okay," she whispers, kissing her forehead. "I've got you, Azula. I've got you."

There's no doubt that even to this day, Azula is a warrior. She fights and she struggles and Ty Lee is never quite sure if she wins or loses, but she is there to catch her when she falls asleep.

.

Izumi's birthday party is no less extravagant than it would be for any other member of the royal family. Every noble in Caldera has been invited to partake in the feast, featuring live music beneath a sky of paper lanterns.

It's all familiar but all different at the same time.

"What is _wrong_ with these people?" Azula snarls in a low murmur to her companion.

Ty Lee loads her plate with food. "What do you mean?"

"It's like they don't…" She doesn't finish the sentence, because it's exactly what she's seeing. Not a single person bows or looks her in the eye. No captain or guard salutes her. Instead, they glance at her, fleeting and head-to-toe, and carry on; there are rocks more interesting in the Earth Kingdom than the former Fire Nation Princess.

There was once a time when Azula would revel in the silence of a crowd. It meant they would bow on their knees, honoring their noble Fire Princess, and heed every word she spoke. She didn't care about their adoration; she demanded their fear and obedience.

But _this_ … This is something else entirely.

A gong shimmers at the front of the courtyard. "Please welcome: Your Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Lady Mai, and Crown Princess Izumi."

Everyone, including Ty Lee, kowtows.

"Thank you all for coming this…" Zuko begins, but stops. He stutters. His people exchange confused glances. Then, slowly, cautiously, they turn their heads to the back of the room.

Azula does not bow to this Fire Lord.

The crowd's silence stabs her like one thousand knives. They have not seen her face for over a decade. They whisper, echoing around the chamber like hissing steam, out of control.

But one keeps catching her ear:

"When did the Fire Lord let _her_ out of her cage?"

Amber eyes rip through the crowd to locate her brother's. The crowd gasps and flinches away as she takes a step towards him, when she feels a delicate pair of fingers on her wrist. She looks over her shoulder and Ty Lee holds her back.

"Not now," she says, glancing at the Imperial Firebenders encroaching on them. There's no doubt, especially if Azula decides to ignore her, that they could take them. But there are far, far bigger stakes at hand. "Not… Not like this."

Azula trembles in a terrifyingly quiet anger as she takes a step back. And then another. And another. And another, until they are out in the corridor.

A good general knows when to retreat.

Out in the hallway, Azula collapses to her knees on the plush red carpet, sobbing. Ty Lee squeezes her shoulders to try and ground her, but it does nothing.

"Azula, I'm sorry," Zuko blurts out, running after her. "I didn't know you were coming. If I had, I would've—"

"Will you give her just a minute?" Ty Lee snaps.

Zuko recoils at her ferocity.

Ursa tries to help, too. "Azula, please don't blame your brother. It was my idea to invite you."

Azula launches to her feet. "It's never _his_ fault, is it, mother? My apologies for thinking any of you wanted me here!"

Zuko clenches his fist. "Don't yell at her, Azula. We do want you here, it's just—"

"Just what, Zuko?" Azula cuts him off. "None of you thought I was going to show. Well, here I am! And congratulations, you've made a mockery of me in front of the whole Fire Nation!"

"Please, Azula, lower your voice," Ursa murmurs, even though she knows it is futile. Heads from the party are now poking into the hallway. "We can take this somewhere more private and have an adult discussion."

Azula, naturally, is outraged by the idea. "Adult discussion? What exactly is _adult_ about any of this? You two lock me up for over a decade, don't write or talk to me, and then send me away like some kind of animal you don't want? Do those people even know who I am?"

Ursa and Zuko are silent. The truth is written all over their pathetic faces.

Azula's anger runs ice cold.

"Apparently, I'm not the only monster in this family."

.

It's a long, quiet walk under the stars back to the harbor. Zuko offered a ride in a carriage, but of course, Azula refused out of spite. She ignores her regret as pebbles slip into her shoes.

Then, Ty Lee stops. "Are you mad at me?"

Azula blinks. "No. Why? Should I be?"

"Because I..." Ty Lee hesitates. "I lied to you. I didn't get you out of the hospital. Your mom and Zuko did. They asked me to take care of you."

"More like _forced_ ," Azula scoffs, crossing her arms.

"Yeah..."

"You don't have to take care of me. I'm just fine on my own."

"I know that."

"Then what do you want?"

Ty Lee chews on her lip. Her hands fidget in front of her like she is fourteen all over again.

"You get along really well with Izah. And she likes having you around. And I like having you around, too. I like it... a lot, actually. I like waking up with you and watching you firebend and having dinner with you and sometimes doing nothing with you, and I lo—"

Ty Lee stops herself mid-confession, because she knows what she is about to say is the ultimate taboo. She stumbles and tries to finish her sentence, but fails.

"You love me," Azula finishes for her. She walks up to her, intertwining their fingers almost absent-mindedly. "Do you love me so much, you would marry me?"

She asks the question so casually, it makes Ty Lee's eyes pop out of her head.

" _What_? Wait a minute, I..."

Azula shrugs and takes a step back. "You don't have to answer now. I'm just curious. The legal paperwork alone can take over a month to process."

Ty Lee is still speechless, but somewhat... relieved?

"You're _really_ bad at telling jokes, Azula. Now let's go before we miss our ship home."

"Yes, stranded in Caldera. That would be an absolute _tragedy_."

Ty Lee laughs, and Azula enjoys the sound of it.

.


End file.
